I’ve been wondering what Pope Saint Pius X might say to his brother bishops in Phoenix and Madison about their sacramental theology. All of us who are caught up in the controversy over restricting access to the chalice might do well to revisit the entire text of Pius’s immensely liberating document, Sacra Tridentina.

“It strikes me as nothing less-than an clerical overstepping and unnecessary demarcation of the clergy and laity. What are these pastors (by which I mean the Canonical notion of pastor) thinking? It seems, at least superficially, that it is an ‘in’ and ‘out’ club — who is and who is not permitted to receive from the cup. Seriously, we have more important things to be concerned about.” – Br. Daniel Horan, OFM